The University of Oregon’s Prison Education Program stands against racism in all its forms – overt, unconscious, and systemic. We are committed to combating inequality and violence through conversations in our classes, our projects, and among ourselves.
We stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, recognizing the unequal violence and structural hardships faced by our Black students, neighbors, colleagues, and leaders.
We hope that in this moment greater equality can be achieved for all those who suffer discrimination and prejudice. We commit to being present in that fight.
One of the inspirations for Inside-Out’s pedagogy, Paolo Freire, uses the analogy that “we make the road by walking.” We as a society are making that way forward now – through protests in the streets, independent study, tough conversations, and interruption of violence and discrimination. We commit to continuing in that work – to use another quote that frequently appears in our programmatic conversations, “once you know, you owe.” The existence and impact of systemic racism is not new news to us, and we recommit ourselves to the ongoing work of social justice through education and dialogue.